Water closet flushing tank



May 8, 1956 J. VYMER WATER CLOSET FLUSHING TANK Filed May 7, 1954IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIll/IIA INVENTOR. Jasc/ y mer M144 United States Patent9 WATER CLOSET FLUSHING TANK Josef Vymer, Prague, CzechoslovakiaApplication May 7, 1954, Serial No. 428,297

3 Claims. (Cl. 4-43) The present invention relates to improvements in auniversal air-seal flushing device, in particular for waterclosets andthe like and the main object of the invention is to provide a valve-lessflushing device for controlling the discharge from the tank.

In a number of flushing devices for water-closets of a hitherto knownconstruction the water in the tank is retained by means of a trap. Theair enclosed between two levels of the water in the trap acts as aclosing means for the water and thereby replaces a mechanical valve. Thedevices of this kind are open to objection on the grounds of theircomplexity and unreliable operation.

The present invention relates to a universal air seal flushing device ofa new type, free from the above drawbacks. The new device may be usedeither as a flushing tank for automatically discharging the liquid fromtime to time, or with the addition of known retaining means and a valve,controlled by a float, as a flushing device for water-closets whichdischarges the liquid only after the retaining means has been released.

The air seal flushing device according to the present inventioncomprises a trap with a-siphon, mounted in the bottom of the tank andconsisting of a discharge tube, a siphon cap and a trap tube, extendingabove the bottom of the tank, a covering bell loosely seated on the topof the siphon cap, a float rigidly connected with the covering bell andcontaining a ballast of variable weight, said float having a smallerdiameter than the covering bell and extending above the top of theliquid in the tank, said covering bell together with the float beingadapted to be automatically lifted by the buoyancy of the covering belland of the submerged part of the float.

It is a great advantage of the device according to the present inventionthat, by a change of the weight of the ballast, the height of thesurface of the water in the tank may be changed, and further that theoperation of the device, when equipped with the known retaining meansand valve controlled by a float, is independent of the way in which itis handled, and that the flushing device cannot be set in operation,unless the water in the tank reaches the predetermined height, thusavoiding any failure in operation.

With these and other objects in view, the invention comprises certainnovel features of construction, combination and arrangement of parts, aswill be hereinafter more fully described and claimed.

The invention is diagrammatically represented in the accompanyingdrawings wherein:

Fig. 1 shows a longitudinal section of an air-seal flushing deviceembodying this invention; and

Fig. 2 is a modified embodiment thereof.

Referring in detail to Fig. l of the drawing, it will be seen that tank1 of the flushing device comprises, in its lower part, a trap tube 2which extends into the tank 1 so as to provide an elevated border 3. Thetrap tube 2 is provided at its lower end with a closing wall 4 and avalve 5 in the latter to permit cleaning and emptying of the trap tube2. A discharge tube 6 extends in a watertight manner through the wall 4,said tube 6 being pro- 2,144,257 Patented May 8, 1956 vided with ribs 7,on which a siphon cap 8 is fitted. The cap 8 is closed on top and thereprovided with a twosided or external and internal projection 9.

A covering bell, generally identified by the reference numeral 10, restsloosely on the external part of the projection 9 of the cap 8, said bellhaving the shape of a hollow cylinder closed on top by a water-tightwall 11. It is important that the bell 10 should not sit with its wall11 against a plane top surface of the siphon cap 8, because adhesionbetween the two parts could then easily occur, and such adhesion wouldinterfere with a proper operation of the device. On the other hand,correct flow conditions in the interior of the siphon cap 8 require thetop wall of the cap to be curved downwards towards the center of thedischarge tube 6 to act as deflecting means for the flow of liquid.These two conditions are fulfilled by the projection 9 extending to bothsides of the top wall of the siphon cap 8. A float 12 is rigidlyconnected with the bell 10, and extends above the maximum height H ofthe surface of the liquid in the tank 1. The float 12 has a smallerdiameter than the lower broad cylindrical portion 13 of the bell 10, andthe portion 13 is connected by an annular radially directed flange 14with the narrower tubular portion of the bell 10. The bell 10 and float12 are secured to a lever 15 mounted for rocking movement around a pivot16. The bell 10 and the float 12 are therefore adapted to rock betweentheir basic position (shown in full lines) and an elevated position(shown in dotted lines). The amplitude of the rocking movement may belimited by a finger 17 which, in the elevated position abuts against theside wall of the tank 1, but the provision of such a limit stop is notindispensable, since the bell can rise only to a fixed height which isdetermined by the height H.

The float 12 is adapted to receive ballast 18 consisting of sand, shotpellets or the like, by means of which the weight of the float l2 andthe bell 10, and consequently the height of the surface of the liquid inthe tank may be controlled, as will be explained hereinafter.

The tank 1 is provided with a valved water supply pipe 19 whichregulates the period of time necessary for filling the tank during theautomatic operation of the device.

The device described above in connection with Fig. l operates asfollows:

The empty tank 1 is supplied with water through the valve controlledpipe 19 until the water rises as high as the elevated border 3 of thetrap tube 2, whereupon the water overflows into the space 20, within thetrap tube. As soon as the water level in the space 20 reaches the loweredge of the siphon cap 8, it closes the air in the space 20 therebyproducing an air-seal of the water. During the further rise of the waterin the tank 1, the water in the space 21 within the siphon cap 8 alsorises a corresponding extent and, when the tank is filled to the heightH, measured from the elevated border 3, the water in the space 21 risesto the same height H measured from the lower edge of the siphon cap 8.It may be proved by calculation that the buoyancy of the bell 1t) and ofthe submerged part of the float 12 is determined by the volume of a bodylimited by the outer surface of the bell 10, the submerged part of thefloat 12 and the height H. The buoyancy of the bell 10 and float 12 istherefore in no way influenced by the diameters of the tubes 2 and 6 andthe siphon cap 8.

The amount of ballast 18 added in the float 12 is such that the weightof the bell 10 and of the float 12 increased by the weight of theballast 13 and lever 15 is just balanced by the buoyancy when the heightH to the surface of the water is reached. Speaking more accurately, themoments with respect to the pivot 16 of the weight of the bell 10, float12, lever 15, the ballast 18 and of the buoy- 3 ancy of the bell andsubmerged part of the float 12 are in equilibrium. Every furtherincrease in the height of water in the tank above the height H willresult in raising the bell 10. By raising the bellltl, the equilibriumbetween the weight. of. the bell-float member and the buoyancy of saidmember will be destroyed because the annular flange 14 rises from thewater-level at the border 3 and the distance it increases. An increaseof the distance It results in an increase of the buoyancy and the bell10andfloat 12 tend to rise out of the water. However, it is only the topportion of the float 12 which rises out of the water. The diameter ofthe float 12 is smaller than the diameter of the lower portion 13 of thebell 10. The decrease of buoyancy .caused by the float 12 emerging fromthe water will therefore be smaller than the increase of the buoyancyacting on the lower part 13 of the bell 10. The difference between thesetwo buoyancies increases quickly during the further rising of the bell10 and float 12 and the combined bell and float member is thereforeviolently swung into the position shown in dotted lines. The airrequired for the increased buoyancy of the lower part 13 of the bell 10is supplied during rising of the bell from the space 20.

After the bell 10 and float 12 have been rocked into the position shownin dotted lines, the air from the space escapes and the air-seal ceasesto exist. The water from the tank is discharged through tube 6 whereuponthe bell 10 sinks back to its original position. The tube 6 and the cap8 act during the discharge of the tank as a siphon to suck the lastremains of the water from the space 20. The air necessary for therepeated operation of the device is sucked into the space 20 during thisfinal phase of the discharge period. The dimension of the lower part 13of the bell 10 has to be such as to make the reserve of air under thepart 13 suflice to lower the level of the water which remains in thespace 20 after the first discharge from the tank.

The cycle of operation described above is automatically repeated and itis obvious that the length of time required for refilling of the tankmay be controlled by means of the supply valve 19. The height H of thewater level in the tank 1 may be controlled by the Weight of the ballast18. The possibility of changing the height of the water level in thetank 1 by means of the ballast 18 is of great importance when the deviceis used as a normal flushing device for water closets. By changing theweight of the ballast 18, the quantity of flush-water may be changedwhenever necessary such as for instance for water-closets for childrenin schools, in houses without normal sewerage and the like.

The covering bell 10 and float 12 instead of being mounted for rockingmotion by the lever 15 may be suitably guided for vertical movementbetween the full line position of Fig. 1 and a raised position (notshown) which is vertically above the illustrated position.

Fig. 2 of the drawing shows, in dotted lines, known structure that maybe added to the flushing device according to the invention in order topermit manual control. The tank 1 is permanently filled with water andemptied only after the release of a conventional retaining mechanism,which holds the covering bell 10 in its normal position even if thewater-level in the tank exceeds the height H.

For this purpose any known hand-controlled retaining device may be addedto the device of Fig. 1 without altering any of the parts of saiddevice.

Fig. 2 shows, by way of example, in broken or dotted lines a knownretaining device consisting of a retaining lever 22 mounted for rotationaround a pivot 23. The lower end of the retaining lever 22 is adapted toengage an extension of the lever 15 and thus to prevent the bell 10 andfloat 12 from rising. An aperture 24 is provided in the extension of thelever 15 for the passage of the lever 22 therethrough when the latter isrocked in the clockwise direction, as viewed in Fig. 2. The lever 22 maybe rocked by a pull on a chain 25 so as to set the bell 10 and float 12free. In this case it is also necessary to provide the tank with theusual valve 26 controlled by a float 27 for automatically closing thesupply tube 28 when the required height of the water level is reached.The water level, at which the float valve 26 closes the water supplytube 28, has to be higher than the height H, in order to ensure that,when the covering bell 10 and float 12 are released, they will have anincreased buoyancy and quickly be lifted into their elevated positionwhich corresponds to the dotted line position of Fig. l. The releasinglever 22 automatically engages the extension of the lever 15 as soon asthe bell 10 and float 12 return to their initial position so long as nopull is exerted on the chain 15.

I claim:

1. A universal air seal flushing device, comprising a tank, a siphoningtrap mounted in the bottom of the tank and including a discharge tube, adownwardly opening siphon cap over said discharge tube and a trap tubearound said cap and extending above the bottom of the tank, a coveringbell loosely seated on the top of said siphon cap, and a float rigidlyconnected with said covering bell and containing a ballast of variableweight, said float having a smaller diameter than the lower part of thecovering bell and extending above a predetermined maximum height of thesurface of the liquid in the tank, said covering bell together with thefloat being adapted to be automatically lifted by the buoyancy of thecovering bell and of the submerged part of the float when the surface ofthe liquid in the tank rises above said predetermined maximum height.

2. A universal air seal flushing device, comprising a tank, a siphoningtrap mounted in the bottom of the tank and including a trap tubeextending above the bottom of the tank, a discharge tube extendingcentrally through said trap tube and a downwardly opening siphon capfitted over said discharge tube, a covering bell loosely seated on thetop of the siphon cap, a float rigidly connected with said covering belland containing a ballast of variable weight, said float having a smallerdiameter than the lower part of the covering bell and extending above apredetermined maximum height of the surface of the liquid in the tank,pivot means secured to the tank, a lever mounted for rocking movement onsaid pivot means and rigidly secured to the covering bell and float,said covering bell together with the float being adapted to beautomatically rocked upwards by the buoyancy of the covering bell and ofthe submerged part of the float when the surface of the liquid risesabove said predetermined level.

3. A universal air seal flushing device according to claim 1; whereinthe top of said siphon cap has a projcction on the upper and lowersurfaces thereof respectively serving as a seat for the covering belland to deflect the flow of liquid within the interior of the siphon capinto said discharge tube.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS437,709 McDonald Oct. 7, 1890 1,015,719 Thiry et a1. Jan. 23, 19121,134,126 Hanchett Apr. 6, 1915 1,225,340 Lacey May 8, 1917 1,670,370Heydrich Y Martinez May 22, 1928

